When Honda boldly tackled the American luxury car market for the 1986 model year, it did so with the Acura Legend. You remember the Legend. Available as a sedan or a coupe, and combining Honda’s reputation for durability with stylish design and the sorts of luxury features commonly found on a BMW or Cadillac, the Legend proved Japan could compete in the upper reaches of the automotive marketplace. Acura’s Legend beat the Lexus LS and Infiniti Q to market by four whole years and then, just as they arrived, got a redesign that was stunning for its day. The car was, uh, Legendary.

Then Acura decided that more people knew about Legends than knew about Acuras, and it switched to alphanumeric nameplates with the 1996 3.5RL in a move to emphasize the brand name over the model name. That sedan remained on the market for nine long years – with a mid-life update, of course – before a redesigned 2005 RL arrived with Acura’s new Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD) system. Then, in 2009, because Acura decided that all of its models needed to wear its new signature “power plenum” front-end design, the RL received a skin graft and numerous other changes designed to extend its shelf life a few more years. As such, the 2010 Acura RL is unchanged from 2009, except that the number of available color choices is reduced.

Model Lineup

Acura sells the RL in a single level of specification, with two available option packages. The standard RL is equipped with the types of luxury amenities expected in a car wearing a $47,640 price tag, among them power adjustable and heated front seats upholstered in perforated leather, dual-zone automatic climate control, sunshades for the rear side windows and backlight, Xenon HID headlights, Bluetooth hands-free cell phone linking with voice recognition technology, and memory for personalized settings. A Bose Centerpoint audio system is standard, with XM satellite radio, an XM Note function, a USB port, and iPod compatibility. You can have the standard RL in any color you like, as long as you like silver, gray, or black.

To get a navigation system, a reversing camera, and real-time traffic and weather reporting, buyers need to select the RL with Technology Package, which raises the price tag to just over $50,000. The Technology Package also include Zagat restaurant ratings, AcuraLink technology, GPS-linked climate control, an Active Front Lighting System, six-level heated and cooled front seats, woodgrain trim on the dashboard and gearshift knob, and a Bluetooth phonebook exchange feature. Additional colors are exclusively available on models with the Technology Package: Opulent Blue Pearl and Silver Jade Metallic.

The top-level Acura RL runs $55,060, and includes the items in the Technology Package plus Active Cruise Control (ACC) and a Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). Details on these features are available below in the Safety section. When these features are included, the RL’s interior is decorated in genuine curly maple wood trim.

Under the Hood

The 2010 Acura RL is available with a single powertrain choice. It has a 3.7-liter V-6 making 300 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 271 ft.-lbs. of torque at 5,000 rpm. It drives all four wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift feature. According to the EPA, the RL is rated to return 16 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway.

Our review vehicle, an RL with all the bells and whistles, averaged 17 mpg in mixed driving with a highway emphasis. Combined with the RL’s 19.3-gallon fuel tank, this actual fuel economy figure results in an approximate 325-mile range between fill-ups of premium unleaded.

Every Acura RL is equipped with the automaker’s Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive system (SH-AWD). With SH-AWD, the engine’s power is continuously distributed between the front and rear wheels and between the wheels on a given axle. Under normal straight-line driving, a maximum of 70 percent of engine power goes to the front wheels. When accelerating or climbing hills, a maximum of 45 percent of engine power can go to the RL’s rear wheels. When cornering, Acura claims that as much as 70 percent of motivational force is directed to a single rear wheel. Direct Yaw Control is a part of the SH-AWD system, allowing the outside rear wheel to rotate six percent faster than the inside rear wheel, helping the RL to rotate through a turn.

Safety Features

Standard safety equipment on the 2010 Acura RL includes dual front airbags, side impact airbags for the front seat occupants, and side curtain airbags for both rows of seats. Four-wheel-disc antilock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist are also standard, along with a stability and traction control system.

Additional safety technologies available on the RL include a reversing camera system and an Active Front Lighting System. With Active Front Lighting, the Acura RL’s headlamps turn with steering inputs to help illuminate around corners for better visibility at night.

The Acura RL is also available with an Active Cruise Control (ACC) system, and a Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). The ACC employs a radar-based unit in the RL’s grille that scans traffic ahead and automatically adjusts the RL’s speed based on traffic conditions and one of three driver-selectable settings. The CMBS system employs the same radar unit to determine if the RL is about to collide with an object. In such an event, it first warns the driver audibly and visually. If the driver does not respond, the system will tug the seatbelt and begin light braking. If there is still no response, hard braking will commence. However, CMBS is not designed to bring the RL to a complete stop, only to reduce impact force and lessen the likelihood of injury.

The Competition

J.D. Power and Associates says the 2010 Acura RL competes against other midsize premium cars such as the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Cadillac STS, Hyundai Genesis, Infiniti M, Jaguar XF, Lexus ES, Lexus GS, Lincoln MKS, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Volvo S80.

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Note: This review was published on December 18, 2009. It may not reflect data that has become available for this vehicle since that date.